EU ambassadors failed to find a breakthrough on a joint negotiating position for Turkey's membership talks and could not agree on a common response to Ankara's refusal to recognize EU member Cyprus.
Britain and France narrowed their differences and presented a joint draft declaration which said the member states "regret that Turkey felt it necessary to make a declaration" in July noting its refusal to recognize the government in Nicosia.
It warned that if Turkey did not allow Cypriot ships or planes "full" access, negotiations could be halted on all transport-related issues.
The draft added that "prior recognition of all member states is a necessary component of accession. Accordingly, the EU underlines the importance it attaches to the normalization of relations between Turkey and all EU member states, as soon as possible."
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded the island following a short-lived coup backed by the supporters of union with Greece. Ankara supports the Turkish-Cypriot breakaway state in the north of the island, and not the internationally recognized Greek-Cypriot government in the south.
The EU argues that any country wishing to join the bloc must recognize all 25 EU members.
Cyprus is demanding Turkey recognize its government and wants a specific deadline for recognition during the entry talks. Britain, which holds the EU presidency, was trying to get a deal on the joint position before the planned opening of membership negotiations with Turkey on Oct. 3.
France, Austria and Cyprus have expressed reservations over talks with Turkey. France and Cyprus have demanded Turkey recognize the Mediterranean island. Austria is pushing for the EU's proposed negotiating mandate to contain a clarification that the outcome of talks should include a lesser option of a "partnership" between Ankara and the EU.
Turkey's entry negotiations are likely to last at least a decade. Diplomats have said the talks could be frozen if Turkey does not move toward recognizing Cyprus or fails to live up to human rights and political reform commitments.
Cyprus threatened on Tuesday to block Turkey's accession talks.
Meeting the last precondition to opening entry talks, Turkey signed a deal in July extending a customs union with the EU to include Cyprus and nine other countries that joined the bloc last year.
Ankara said by signing, it had met all demands for membership talks. However, it upset many EU governments by issuing a separate declaration stating its signature did not mean it recognizes the Cypriot government.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
RSS